You're not alone. At any given moment, somewhere in the world someone struggles with the same software design problems you have. You know you don't want to reinvent the wheel (or worse, a flat tire), so you look to Design Patterns--the lessons learned by those who've faced the same problems. With Design Patterns, you get to take advantage of the best practices and experience of others, so that you can spend your time on...something else. Something more challenging. Something more complex. Something more fun. You want to learn about the patterns that matter--why to use them, when to use them, how to use them (and when NOT to use them). But you don't just want to see how patterns look in a book, you want to know how they look "in the wild". In their native environment. In other words, in real world applications. You also want to learn how patterns are used in the Java API, and how to exploit Java's built-in pattern support in your own code. You want to learn the real OO design principles and why everything your boss told you about inheritance might be wrong (and what to do instead). You want to learn how those principles will help the next time you're up a creek without a design pattern. Most importantly, you want to learn the "secret language" of Design Patterns so that you can hold your own with your co-worker (and impress cocktail party guests) when he casually mentions his stunningly clever use of Command, Facade, Proxy, and Factory in between sips of a martini. You'll easily counter with your deep understanding of why Singleton isn't as simple as it sounds, how the Factory is so often misunderstood, or on the real relationship between Decorator, Facade and Adapter. With Head First Design Patterns, you'll avoid the embarrassment of thinking Decorator is something from the "Trading Spaces" show. Best of all, in a way that won't put you to sleep! We think your time is too important (and too short) to spend it struggling with academic texts. If you've read a Head First book, you know what to expect--a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works. Using the latest research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory, Head First Design Patterns will load patterns into your brain in a way that sticks. In a way that lets you put them to work immediately. In a way that makes you better at solving software design problems, and better at speaking the language of patterns with others on your team.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 287 Ratings

No need to think, buy it!!! - 2009-11-20
Reviewer Rating:
I tried reading other books on the same topic before but I gave up finally after sometime. Their presentation is either boring, too brief, without much explanation, lack of proper example or simply too difficult to read. That book is totally different. I read it quickly and found it very interesting to read. The idea is clearly presented in a comprehensivable way with short text, many graphics and illustration. Example is easy to understand. Highly recommend. No need to think, buy it!!!

Great so far - 2010-01-09
Reviewer Rating:
I've only gotten past the first chapter but this book has been great so far. I wish I would have learned more of these techniques in school. I can already see how important it is to know design patters for anyone doing object oriented programming.

The book seems to have plenty of ways to fry the information into your brain including fill in the blank questions and programming exercises. They have a lot of code given in the text which is nice for people (like me) who are not fully fluent in Java. I have used C++ mostly and I have little issue finding my way through the code. So if you are at least familiar in some object oriented language I think you will be fine. Also, I think it is a big plus that I get a look at how things are done in Java.

I find it really interesting how the Head First guys use cognitive research to help with learning the material. Even though I just started reading, it has helped me through one phone interview already. To me, it has pretty much paid for itself. I look forward to learning more about design patterns as I finish the text.

A must for design patterns - 2010-02-02
Reviewer Rating:
If you need to quickly master the fundamental object oriented design patterns this book is a very good choice. Written in the usual Head First style, is a very easy to follow way to master the traditional GOF patterns.

Un libro obligado para todo programador - 2010-02-01
Reviewer Rating:
Como su nombre lo indica es un libro cuyo tema es espec-íficamente los patrones de dise-ño.
La mayor-ía, por no decir todos, los libros y referencias de internet que he le-ído acerca del tema suelen ser textos muy aburridos que a decir verdad m s que permitirle al lector aprender acerca de los patrones de dise-ño lo que terminan haciendo es dejar la amarga sensaci-ón de que la mayor-ía de los patrones de dise-ño son un tema reservado solo para los m s experimentados desarrolladores. Error! los patrones de dise-ño son unas herramientas que deben hacer parte de la cultura general de todo desarrollador, desde el m s novato hasta el m s experimentado.

Este libro logro ense-ñarme que los patrones de dise-ño no son un tema complejo, sino que realmente son un tema muy agradable al que se le puede sacar mucho provecho en todos los proyectos donde uno se vea involucrado.

Mediante sencillos y divertidos ejemplos el libro muestra casos en los cuales es conveniente utilizar un patr-ón determinado. Los autores realizan un excelente trabajo al introducir al lector de manera gradual en los diferentes aspectos que componen cada patr-ón llev ndolo desde implementaciones realmente sencillas hasta las subsiguientes situaciones mas complejas donde pueden llegar a verse involucrados varios patrones a la vez.

Aunque el libro esta principalmente orientado a desarrolladores de lenguaje Java, lo cierto es que esta escrito de tal forma que el lenguaje de programaci-ón que se utilice termina siendo casi que un accesorio, y para mi como desarrollador de C# result-ó sumamente f cil y sencillo adaptar cada uno de los ejemplos a mi lenguaje favorito.

Para quienes no han tenido la fortuna de conocer los libros de la serie Head First,creo que esta es la perfecta ocasi-ón para conocerlos, si bien para el que no los conoce, estos libros pueden parecer como tontos y poco serios, lo cierto es que est n dise-ñados no para ser solo un mont-ón de teor-ía in-útil sino por el contrario est n dise-ñados para estimular el aprendizaje entregando la informaci-ón con los elementos que nos hacen m s f cil aprender y memorizar:

Buen Humor
Im genes llamativas
Ejemplos sencillos f ciles de digerir
Teor-ía ??? si pero solo lo necesario, no un tratado internacional para eruditos.

Les recomiendo a todos que lean el libro y por supuesto les recomiendo que lo compren, hay cosas que merecen hacer el gasto, sino tienen mucho dinero en la p gina de O'Reilly tienen la en la opci-ón de adquirir una copia legan en PDF, de verdad que la inversi-ón es muy poca comparada con los beneficios que obtendr n.

Engaging, plenty of pictures, retained knowledge. - 2010-02-01
Reviewer Rating:
I purchased this book after reading some chapters of the Head First: Object Oriented Analysis and Design book. I've always wanted to learn more about patterns. I have one of the definitive books on patterns but it is had to grasp. Although that books provides examples of the patterns with certain problems/solutions, it does a poor job of diagramming the thought process. Head First does a great job of adding to the knowledge foundation to start thinking about why a pattern is necessary, and why it works. I've already used two of the patterns as I was learning them.

The downside to this book is that it does not have as much coverage in the patterns. Other books are needed to supplement it. However, the knowledge retained is invaluable.

Browse Similar Topics

Top Level Categories:
Computer Science
Programming

Sub-Categories:
Computer Science > Coding
Programming > Java